Assassin’s Creed IV: Freedom Cry Review

Adewale takes the helm in Black Flag‘s first story DLC.Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag’s first story DLC, Freedom Cry, brings back a more serious tone to the series as the franchise covers the horrors of slavery.

Freedom Cry takes place a few years after the main game’s credits roll, and puts you in command of Edward Kenway’s former first mate Adewale. Ade is now an assassin and his work for them has led him the city of Port-Au Prince, where he attempts to deal with the slave trade.

Unlike the main game’s protagonist Edward, who was cheery and greedy always looking to get his, Ade is a much more serious man who has a clear motive of what he wants to get done. Much like Assassin’s Creed 3’s Connor, Ade has seen his people treated unfairly and brutally, but unlike Connor, who many (including myself) found whiny and mad at everything, Ade is stoic and firm in his beliefs and ways, which puts him leaps and bounds above Connor.

Port-Au Prince itself feels like the most realized city out of any in AC4, which is good because that is where you spend most of your time. In the main game, you spend equal if not more time at sea as you do on land. Fear not though, aside from the bulk of the story missions taking place in the city, you will be plenty busy freeing slaves from different scenarios on the island.

The freeing of slaves replaces collecting material in Freedom Cry. The more slaves you save, whether they be from a slave ship, locked in a cage, or helping one that was in the process of escaping, the better your equipment and ship will become.

Aside from the slave freeing aspect, other additions to Freedom Cry are simply re-skins of what was in the original game. Chief among them is the ability to raid plantations as a way to free slaves. This works basically how clearing a warehouses would have in the main game, sabotaging alarm bells and all.

Alas, this is an Assassin’s Creed game and with that comes a bevy of repetitive missions to undertake. Eavesdropping on conversations? Check. Tailing from the rooftop? Check. Tailing from a rooftop while eavesdropping and then killing your informant? Check. It’s all here and it all feels exactly like it has since Assassin’s Creed 2.

Despite all that, Freedom Cry’s story of the brutality of the slave trade at the time manages to rise above all this for an overall satisfying experience. It’s helped by the fact that most of the material collecting was replaced by the much more satisfying freeing of slaves. Freedom Cry is worth your time and money if you loved what you played in Black Flag, and want another excuse to be in that world.